Showing titles in Epic

Home at last—but not yet revealed. In Books 17 and 18 of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus reaches Ithaca in a beggar’s rags, tests the hearts of men, and steels himself for justice. He and the loyal swineherd Eumaeus enter the city; the goatherd Melanthius sneers; faithful Argos lifts his head...

"The Complete Works of Homer" is a meticulously curated anthology that brings together the iconic masterpieces of ancient Greek literature – "The Iliad," "The Odyssey," and "The Homeric Hymns" – accompanied by captivating illustrations. Homer's epic narratives are renowned for their profound...

The Fall of Hyperion is an unfinished visionary epic that was begun in 1819 as a revision of Keats's earlier poem Hyperion. Framed as a dream-vision, it follows a poet-narrator who wanders into a mysterious garden, eats and drinks at a sacred feast, and finds himself transported to a decaying temple. There he meets the veiled goddess Moneta, priestess of fallen memory, who forces him to confront his own worth as a poet before revealing to him—through visions within the dream—the story of the Titans' overthrow by the Olympian gods.

Trouble is brewing at the home of the hero Odysseus, who has spent years fighting in the Trojan Wars and is now captive of the beautiful nymph Calypso. Hordes of suitors to his wife have invaded the family house, and Odysseus' son Telemachus sets out to find his father. Freed from the clutches of Calypso after the intervention of Zeus, Odysseus begins his epic return journey.

Cleanness is the second of the four poems of the Pearl manuscript, a 14th century work contemporaneous with Chaucer, Langland and Gower. Cleanness tells several stories, all related by theme “ the disastrous consequences of uncleanness, and the good fortune to be had by being clean. The poet carefully constructs a complex accumulation of stories and examples, whose main source is the Old Testament. The three major stories are the Flood, then Sodom and Gomorrah, followed by Belshazzar's Feast.

The Old English epic poem Beowulf, recorded in its original Saxon dialect for the first time. Performed by Icelandic poet, playwright, professional storyteller and performer Svanur Thorkelsson, Audible’s production gives listeners the opportunity to experience how it might have felt to hear bards recite sections of the 3000-line poem from memory in Anglo Saxon dining halls. Audible’s Beowulf recaptures the heroic style and vast scale of what can be considered ‘England’s first native audiobook’.

Home at last—but not yet safe. In Samuel Butler’s classic prose rendering, Odysseus (Ulysses) is borne sleeping to Ithaca by the generous Phaeacians, while Poseidon exacts a terrible price. Shrouded in Athena’s mist, he awakens on unknown shores, hides his treasure in the Naiads’ cave...

Two of The Odyssey’s most unforgettable chapters come alive in this gripping performance of Samuel Butler’s lucid prose translation. In Book 11, Odysseus sails to the shadowed shores of Oceanus and summons the dead: he speaks with the seer Teiresias, embraces the shade of his mother Anticlea...

Night falls on Ithaca as the stranger in rags prepares for justice. In Book 19, Odysseus and Telemachus spirit away the weapons, Penelope cross-examines the beggar, and faithful Euryclea knows her king by an old scar. In Book 20, sleepless prayers and thunderous omens announce the reckoning...

lift the lapis lazuli tablet and read of Gilgamesh - his adventures and all he endured. King above kings, most formidable presence. Gilgamesh originated in Ancient Mesopotamia nearly 4,000 years ago, yet its themes of power, loyalty, love and loss resound with contemporary relevance. The...

Alexander Pope was celebrated for his command of classical Greek and produced seminal translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Prior to the preparation of these translations, Pope took advantage of his mastery of the classical style and also his waspish wit to compose a burlesque epic about the theft of a lock of hair. The incident that inspired Pope was related to him by his friend John Caryll. Lord Petre had cut off a lock of the hair of Arabella Fermor, whom he was courting at the time, without asking the lady's permission.

This remarkable poem, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, was Spenser's finest achievement. The first epic poem in modern English, The Faerie Queene combines dramatic narratives of chivalrous adventure with exquisite and picturesque episodes of pageantry. At the same time, Spenser is expounding a deeply-felt allegory of the eternal struggle between Truth and Error....

"Витязь в тигровой шкуре" - эпическая поэма грузинского поэта Шота Руставели, написанная в XII веке.

Patience is the third of the four poems of the Pearl manuscript, a 14th century work contemporaneous with Chaucer, Langland and Gower, and acknowledged as a minor masterpiece in its own right. The poet's usage of the word patience reflects two broad senses: that of accepting misfortune and submitting to physical or mental suffering, and that of waiting, holding back, and exercising moderation and self-control.

An epic poem is a lengthy narrative poem, usually set in a time beyond living memory in which the extraordinary ancestors, in their dealings with the gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants, the poet, and his audience in order to understand themselves as a people.

In the beginning of Paradise Lost, Satan has ben banished to Hell and is working to organize the angels who fell with him and create his new kingdom. While a constant angelic war rages, Satan begins to wield his influence on the first humans created on Earth, and soon tempts them into defying God by using wit and logic to tempt Eve. The actions get Adam and Eve banished from paradise, and in the aftermath of their sin they get to glimpse the future of humanity based on their actions.

The Greek poet, Hesiod, stands out as the first personality in European literature. The Theogony contains a genealogy of the gods from the beginning of time and an account of their violent struggles before the present order was established. The Works and Days, a compendium of advice for a life of honest husbandry, shines a unique and fascinating light on archaic Greek society, ethics, and superstition. Hesiod's poetry is the oldest source of the myths of Prometheus, Pandora, and the Golden Age.

This epic poem by Edmund Spenser is the longest poem in the English language. It is an allegorical work, written in praise of Queen Elizabeth I. Michael MacLiammoir reads a selection from Book III.

The Argonautica, also known as Jason and the Golden Fleece or Jason and the Argonauts, is the only surviving epic poem from Hellenistic Greece. It is a masterpiece whose story was well known to the audiences of the time. Virgil and other later poets were greatly influenced by it. Its author, Apollonius, was a well-known third century BC scholar living in Alexandria during the great age of Ptolomaic scholarship, and his bold attempt at writing a Homeric epic about Jason and his quest for the Golden Fleece faced a daunting audience of knowledgeable contemporaries.

The Works and Days is a didactic poem written by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod around 700 BC. It is in dactylic hexameter and contains 828 lines. At its center, the Works and Days is a farmer's almanac in which Hesiod instructs his brother Perses in the agricultural arts.